THE House of Representatives recently approved on second reading a bill requiring the Philippine Postal Corp. to issue postage stamps depicting Philippine tourist spots and use these in international mail.
House Bill (HB) 5023, which substituted HB 2417 that Rep. Eric Olivarez of Parañaque City authored, emphasizes the need to further promote the country’s tourist destinations and encourage more foreigners to visit them.
The measure also directs the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) to assist in the identification, illustration and labeling of the tourist areas to be depicted on the stamps and in the preparation and placement of posters in the Philippines and abroad.
“Tourism is one of the anchor industries upon which the national government is relying in order to attain the status of a newly industrialized country in Asia,” Olivarez said.
According to him, tourism authorities in the world have conceded that the Philippines has plenty of indescribably beautiful areas, and that some of these have been developed and others are already breathtaking in their natural state.
Olivarez said that, to further boost its tourism-promotion efforts with the DOT’s “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign slogan, the country must make known the existence of its famous tourist destinations, arouse the interest of tourists about these areas, show how beautiful they are and tempt these people to visit.
“This we can do by means of postage stamps affixed on ongoing mail, especially to foreign destinations. These will depict the tourist areas in our country and advertise these beautiful spots to potential foreign tourists without extra cost to the government,” the lawmaker said.
“Surely, this could [generate] interest for more information about the tourist areas, which the DOT and the TPB can provide,” he added.